Wednesday, 4 March 2015

It
was a conversation between two young girls when they saw a picture of woman who
is a candidate for Egyptian parliament.

Sadly,
in Egypt, not only men think that woman not qualified for political life but
women, too. According to the latest poll, most women won’t elect female candidates
for presidency. Although we are in 21st Century, Egyptians still think
that the major role of women is only in her home, to raise her kids and that
she is not efficient enough to participate in the political life, or be the president
or the prime minister

Sadly,
the majority female participation in the Egyptian parliament was in 2010 as the
government determined a number of seats for women, but unfortunately, this
parliament only lasted for two months because of the Egyptian revolution.

I
don’t care about men who think that women don’t have enough efficiency for
political position but what make me feel
disappoint the situation of women against her sex I didn’t talk about women
rights but I want woman think about herself with a different way! As you are
successful at your home and in your job you can be successful too in political life!
You are totally different from men in way that if it well used will be benefit
you, your society and humanity. So when you be leader you will make real change
that no one can do. God will make you change this miserable world.

Finally,
I want to tell Arabian women: if you don’t believe that women are good enough
for a political life, don’t support women anyway, don’t despise or fight her.

Tuesday, 3 March 2015

When my parents used to
give me a present during my childhood for doing well in my exams, it was a
ticket to the place I desire to travel. So, isn’t it exciting when you can
travel the world and explore and learn new things? But such feelings go away
when you are in desperate need to go abroad.

This is what is
happening to the women of Ireland. When they go abroad for abortion, they go in
fear of their image in front of their society and the obstacles they might face
while travelling.Many women in Ireland are unable to get access to abortions. It
has been a significant issue which is less being taken into account by the
government of Ireland. Abortion is the killing of child which is not born yet.
Yes, may be it sounds like taking away a life of an innocent child. But it
becomes crucial when she is suffering from medical problems which give her no
other alternative other than abortion.

The first question is
why women in Ireland aren’t given the opportunity to get access to abortion
facilities as Ireland is one of the developed countries. Moreover, it is a
modern knowledge economy which should have understood the importance of
abortion rights for women. But the case is otherwise. Women in Ireland are not
even made aware of when they should take the decision to abort despite having
regular contact with gynecologists. They expect that the state is going to
provide them with necessary information about abortion facilities. And the
response has been inconsistent and disruptive which explains that the state
barely wants to take into account of its capability for at least the provision
of right information to the women of Ireland.

The
second question is what obstacles women are facing when they have no other
alternative other than abortion to solve the problems of pregnancy. Women might
want to make decisions to abort, perhaps because they want to control the size
of her family, forget the dark secret of a relationship, or when they face
gynecological problems. Whatever is the issue, the matter should be kept
personal since it is a matter of personal privacy and women of a developed
country should not be deprived of that. Otherwise it will be too hard for the
government of developing countries to understand the privilege of women who
belong to their soils.

All
in all, we as women should understand that we are the main contributor to the
change in the way we are viewed in the society. And that is possible when we
are innovative to bring up new ideas for the existence of the feminism around
the world through discussing what changes we can bring to the anti-abortion
movement.

Saturday, 28 February 2015

Stories of sexual violence litter the news. Debates on access to childcare, maternal benefits, equal pay, safe streets, rape-free university campuses, and a potential inquiry concerning murdered or missing aboriginal women all rage on, and could have profound implications for millions. Given these irrefutable facts, the notion that the fight for women’s rights is over seems profoundly mistaken.

The importance of these questions and of the unique struggles faced by women explain why we need a federal leaders’ debate dedicated to women’s issues before the 2015 federal election. Over 30 years ago, during the 1984 federal election, political party leaders John Turner, Brian Mulroney, and Ed Broadbent did just that.

Oxfam Canada, along with 100 other organizations representing more than 3.5 million Canadians, want to see such a debate. On November 4, 2014 this coalition launched a campaign called Up for Debate. The campaign challenges party leaders to explain how they plan to build a more equitable Canada and make meaningful commitments to change women’s lives for the better, at home and around the world.

Up for Debate specifically challenges federal party leaders to work towards: ending violence against women, ending women’s economic inequality, and supporting women’s leadership and organizations. While both NDP leader Tom Mulcair and Green Party leader Elizabeth May have stated their support for Up for Debate and confirmed their participation in such a debate, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau have remained silent.

But some may ask: Do we really need a debate on women’s issues? Let’s take a look at the facts. Since 1980, over one thousand Aboriginal women have been murdered or gone missing, including Loretta Saunders from Labrador. According to Statistics Canada, women continue to earn 70 percent of men’s annual salaries in this country. A study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found that in St. John’s, 32 per cent of a typical woman’s income goes to childcare expenses. A quarter of women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime; 60 per cent of women with a disability experience some form of violence. And on average, a woman is killed by her intimate partner every six days in Canada.

International women’s issues also demand attention. Women now account for half of all HIV/AIDS infections worldwide, and 800 women die in childbirth every day. Yet only five of those deaths are in high-income countries.

Oxfam Canada uses a rights-based, transformative approach to strengthen women and girls’ capacities to mobilize their own power and that of others. Oxfam Grenfell encourages Canadians to voice their support for Up for Debate by visiting http://upfordebate.ca/take-action/support-campaign and signing the online petition, or by contacting their local Members of Parliament.

Friday, 27 February 2015

As a son of the South, a governor and president, and as a man who spent decades tackling problems head-on, he knows the world is not perfect. It has too many people without a voice and without hope, too many examples of suffering and injustice.

There are so many wrongs to right. Yet among them, Carter is putting one ahead of all others: Violence and injustice against girls and women.

"This is going to be the highest priority for the rest of my life," he said this week.

He's doing it at the urging of wife, Rosalynn, and for his daughter, three granddaughters and five great-granddaughters. He says he wants them to have the same opportunities and security that men do

He's doing it for the more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram in Nigeria, for those who have become ISIS militants' sex slaves and for girls everywhere who can't go to school. He's doing it for the estimated 160 million babies aborted or killed at birth in Asia in recent decades because they were not boys. He's doing it for American college co-eds and women in the military who suffer rape and see the men responsible walk free.

Carter also is doing it because of women he has met from places like Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Some can't go home due to the taboos and dangers facing them in male-dominated societies. Others go anyway, risking their lives.

"They're the heroes," the former President says. "And they inspire me."

Scores of these "heroes" shared stories and brainstormed solutions this week at the Carter Center, the President's namesake humanitarian and advocacy organization. The issues ranged widely, from income inequality to so-called "honor killings." Yet the attendees were united in a belief that women should be on par with men, echoing Carter in his latest book titled, "A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power."

He is making this the fight of his life, urging the conference attendees to be unrelenting.

"Let's not abandon this," he said.

'Death is mercy, compared to the alternatives'

Roughly half the world's population is male, the other half female.

In many ways, that's where the equality stops.

Within families worldwide, women take on leadership roles all the time. But it's a different story if you break down the roster of U.S. or world political leaders, or if you look at the business landscape -- only about 5% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. And this is not to mention the higher likelihood of females to be sexually abused, turned into sex slaves, subjugated or otherwise mistreated.

"The more (the Carter Center was) involved in 80 different countries around the world, the more we saw clearly the most serious and unaddressed human rights abuse on earth is among women and girls," Carter told CNN this week. "It's much worse than I ever dreamed it was."

Some women endure physical abuse and personal humiliation because they don't see a way out.

Yet some resist.

Dalia Abd El-Hameed, from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said she was inspired to take action during the Arab Spring. She saw Egypt's revolution as "a window to do something different," namely to create a better and more just society.

She learned how activists' dreams don't always become realities, though. Sexual violence against women actually worsened after the fall of longtime President Hosni Mubarak and is now "reaching unprecedented levels," according to El-Hameed.

Yet she's still fighting.

"People are not being silenced," El-Hameed said. "It's a time of social uprising in the whole world. We are not alone in this."

Manal Omar, from the United States Institute of Peace, knows about the global push for change from her work in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and around the Middle East. Yes, women know they put their health and safety on the line by speaking out, but they do it anyway.

"Death is not the worst thing that can happen," Omar said, comparing it to sexual assault, physical abuse, psychological degradation and the loss of face and hope. "Death is mercy, compared to the alternatives."

Thursday, 26 February 2015

Women's rights activists with One Billion Rising, a global campaign to end violence against women, have organised a rally for tomorrow at Shahbagh in the capital to change people's mindset and attitude towards females.

They have also arranged a street play, a painting exhibition and a torch rally to create mass awareness about oppression of women.

The rights activists announced the programmes at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity yesterday.

One Billion Rising's theme this year is “revolution”.

In Bangladesh, more than 19,545 women were victims of violence in 2014, and 1,74,691 women were victims of different forms of torture in 12 years from 2001. said development activist Fawzia Khondakar, based on police records. She added that more than 10 women are oppressed every week in Bangladesh, according to the UN Women's statistics, and different NGO researches.

Bangladesh Police Women's Network and other such organisations will also take part in tomorrow's programmes.

Tuesday, 24 February 2015

The world's discrimination and violence against women and girls is the most serious, pervasive, and ignored violation of basic human rights: This is President Carter's call to action.

And I agree with him. Violence and discrimination against women and girls is pervasive and rising around the world. Who are these women and girls? They are our mothers, our sisters and our daughters. The effects of the violence and discrimination extend far beyond just the victims of the abuse, but to every member of the community. Strong correlations have been drawn suggesting communities where violence against women and girls is prevalent are often blighted by poverty, crime and lack of resources.

President Carter published his 28th book "A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power", detailing his experience in traveling to over 145 countries and seeing firsthand the shocking reality that women around the world are being denied equal rights. He posits that there are essentially two underlying causes; the first being the manipulation of religious texts and the second, the excessive presence and acceptance of violence.

He points out that religious texts are being selectively taken out of context by oppressive male leaders to support the subjugation and the denial of basic rights to women. He gives a number of examples, including his own experience as a faithful Southern Baptist for over 70 years. He also points out that faith leaders have a special responsibility in taking action against the violation of women's rights. For the third year in a row, faith leaders and courageous human rights defenders met at The Carter Center to mobilize faith groups worldwide to commit to advancing women's rights.

From violent video games to constant participation in war after war, violence has become an accepted reality and response. Men are taught directly and indirectly that rape and violence can often be committed with impunity. Take for instance, the oppression of rape victims' rights in the military or campus attacks on young women being swept under the rug by school administrators to save their reputations. Rape, infanticide, genital mutilation, slavery, child marriage and honor killings are just some of the realities faced by women today in alarming numbers. According to the U.N., one in three women will be raped or brutalized in their lifetime -- that's 1 billion women worldwide. And even more shocking, President Carter has estimated "160 million girls are now missing from the face of the earth because they were murdered at birth by their parents or either selectively aborted when their parents find out that the fetus is a girl."

But what can you do about it?

President Carter reminds us in his book that each and every one of us has the power to do something. When you speak out forcefully, you give a voice to the victims and you halt the progression of the abuse.

I started using my voice to speak out against violence towards women and girls when I became involved in Eve Ensler's non-profit V-Day. In 2013, the organization kicked off its One Billion Rising campaign to bring women, girls and a supportive community together to raise their voices against violence and demand racial, economic and environmental justice for women and girls around the world.

In Atlanta, the One Billion Rising campaign addressed many issues but our focus was on raising awareness about human trafficking and ending it. The Carter Center's Senior Project Advisor of the Human Rights Program Karin Ryan, for whom the book is dedicated, has worked on behalf of the voiceless with a passion especially for women and girls. We were honored to have her give a keynote speech at the event. According to a study commissioned by the Justice Department and done by the Urban Institute, Atlanta is one of the worst cities in the U.S. for human trafficking. In his book, President Carter puts the number of girls being sold into slavery in Atlanta at between 200 and 300 girls a month (page 127). According to the Urban Institute's study, Atlanta had the largest underground commercial sex economy in 2007 at $290 million. This is unacceptable. Often times we hear about this issue and think what can we possibly do to help the women in Africa or the Middle East, the problem is too vast, too overwhelming. Well the truth is we have a problem in our own backyard and you can do something about it. Use your voice, participate, hold your elected officials accountable and encourage faith leaders to advocate for full human rights and dignity for women.

I am proud to serve on the Carter Center's Board of Councilors and am always inspired by the many ways President and Rosalyn Carter, as well as the Carter Center's expert staff, have worked for decades to create a peaceful and equitable world. His book, "A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power", is a critically important read and step towards bringing justice and basic human rights to women.

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This is to notify the public that Shadrack Egbonimali is nolonger affiliated with Deltawomen NGO Any notification, correspondence, etc.sent on behalf of Deltawomen NGO by/with Shadrack Egbonimali will not be recognized as an officialDeltawomen action or comment.Last date of employment January 30th, 2013